The vast majority of textile based products, which have been assembled from multiple components e.g. garments, shoes, furnishings, floor coverings, quilts, mattresses, bedding, automotive airbags, seat covers and safety belts are very difficult to recycle into useful products and/or be reused at the end of their useful or expected life. The majority of these products are either downcycled into low value products or discarded to municipal waste. Some garments, if in satisfactory condition may be suitable for reuse without additional re-manufacture and may be sold via charity shops or exported to developing countries where they are reused.
A common example of recycling is through use of fiber reclamation mills. Textile products may be shredded into fibers and blended with other fibers, depending on the intended end use. The recycled fibres may then be mechanically processed by processes such as carding or air-laying to produce a web, which is then converted into nonwoven fabrics using techniques such as needlepunching, stitchbonding, thermal bonding, chemical bonding and similar nonwoven bonding techniques. Alternatively, webs containing recycled fibres may be converted via other manufacturing processes in to yarns ready for weaving, knitting and similar fabric production processes. Recycled fibers may be used as components in the production of nonwoven fabrics for use in for example, mattress production (e.g. insulator pads above the springs) and sound insulator pads used in the manufacture of vehicles. Waste textile and clothing may also be shredded to make filling materials for insulation products, roofing materials such as felts, padding materials for furniture manufacture, fillers for composites and many other applications.
Textiles in municipal solid waste largely consist of discarded clothing, although other sources include furniture, mattresses, carpets, footwear, and goods such as sheets, towels, curtaining and other household fabric uses such as furniture. In the US alone it is estimated that eleven million tonnes per annum of textiles end up in landfill and in the United Kingdom it is approximately one million tonnes per annum. Whilst various methods exist for recycling of textile-based products, many garments are difficult to recycle due to the complexity of their structure and the presence of multiple different materials including non-textile materials used in their manufacture.
Whilst the majority of textile-based articles being directed to municipal waste such as landfill have reached the end of their useful life a significant quantity of such textile based articles have not reached the end of their useful life and could be reused or redirected for use elsewhere. Significant quantities of clothing is rejected by retailers and brand owners because of flaws or because it is surplus to requirements or it is out of season/fashion. In addition, although large quantities of donated clothing are collected each year, not all of this clothing is suitable for re-sale or re-use.
Another major area where a significant quantity of reusable textile material is directed to landfill is in the area of corporate clothing and workwear. Many articles of corporate clothing including uniforms cannot be reused because there are potential security issues associated with the corporate identity. At present, identifying insignia or labels cannot be easily or economically removed to reduce the risk of such security issues. The main reason why the bulk of these articles are not reused is because they are difficult and expensive to process for the removal of labels and corporate insignia. Removal of labels and tax tabs prior to reuse is necessary often for security reasons, but is hampered because it often has to be done manually, which is not cost-effective. Also, the underlying fabric may be unavoidably damaged as the logo or insignia is removed. Embroidered logos and insignia are particularly difficult to remove in a cost-effective manner without damaging the base fabric in the process. The complex issues around the recovery and reuse of corporate clothing has recently been addressed in a paper entitled “Principles of the recovery and reuse of corporate clothing”, by Russell et al., in Waste and Resource Management, 163, Issue WR4, pages 165 to 173.
Another problem with many textile products is the heterogeneity of the composition and methods that are used to join the integral components, which are irreversible. Many textile products comprise of more than one material, for example, metal zips and fastenings are attached to the fabric. In addition it is common for textile components not to be comprised of homogeneous plastic materials. For example, a 100% cotton product may be sewn together with a sewing thread containing synthetic or man-made polymers such as polyester and the joint requires substantial energy to break. When such products are shredded, these different materials become intermixed and the separation of these individual components becomes very difficult. If an attempt is made to disassemble a conventional textile product in to its separate components by breaking stitches, seams or joints mechanically, substantial energy is required because these joints are not designed to be separated, for the same reason the separation may be incomplete due to tearing of the product due to the force involved resulting in some cross contamination of the material streams. The cost-effective disassembly and separation of the individual components of a textile product at the end of life is therefore problematic.
Recycling processes require effective means of separating textile components so that individual components of the product can be more cost-effectively separated and recycled without contaminating the various components. Examples include, the recycling of furniture, floorcoverings, mattresses, interior automotive components, seating, home furnishings, shoes, and soft luggage.
There is a growing need for safe and effective systems and methods of article assembly and disassembly, especially the assembly and disassembly of textile based articles.